Mercury Incident Disrupts School

April 02, 2003|By CHARLES STANNARD; Courant Staff Writer

DEEP RIVER — John Winthrop Junior High School students spent Tuesday in their homerooms as cleanup crews scoured the building after a student brought a small vial of mercury and showed it to classmates.

Superintendent of Schools John Gillespie said the school would open today without cafeteria service and students would be asked to bring lunches from home. He said the cafeteria was being cleaned by a crew from Environmental Services Inc. of South Windsor and is expected to be back in service Thursday.

Gillespie said the girl was showing the substance to several classmates in the cafeteria when a teacher determined it looked like mercury and brought the students to the nurse's office. State police and the state Department of Environmental Protection's Oil and Chemical Response Division were contacted at 8:28 a.m. and began an investigation and testing of areas in the school building.

``She thought it was some kind of silver paint and brought it to school out of curiosity,'' Gillespie said, adding that the student would not be disciplined over the incident. The school was put in lockdown and students remained in their homerooms through the day as DEP personnel conducted a series of tests to determine the extent of contamination and exposure. School was dismissed early at 1 p.m.

Gillespie said seven students were isolated at the nurse's office and had their hands washed with decontamination soap. Parents were asked to bring a change of clothing and shoes to the students. About 25 students and one teacher were required to have their shoes washed with the decontamination soap.

The school serves about 300 students from Deep River, Chester and Essex.

Along with the cafeteria and nurse's office, the decontamination crew cleaned the bus the student came to school on and a homeroom that some of the students entered after the exposure. Mercury is a toxic substance that is harmful to the human brain, spinal cord, eyes and kidneys through repeated exposure.

Trooper Roger Beaupre, a state police public information officer, said police and DEP personnel had secured the girl's home in Chester for decontamination and cleanup. Beaupre said police had determined the mercury was a ``work material'' for a resident of the home. He said police are continuing to investigate but believe there was ``no criminal intent'' in the incident.

Beaupre said the plastic container that was brought to the school contained ``less than a Dixie cup'' of mercury.

Gillespie said the incident had disrupted instruction because students were not able to complete their regular classroom schedule.

``The teachers did what they could to keep them interested and entertained,'' he said.